[Patent document 1] JP-2006-162349 A
There is known a navigation apparatus provided with navigation functions, such as a route guidance function to retrieve a route to a target travel end point (so-called a destination) and perform a route guidance based on the retrieved route.
Patent document 1 describes such a navigation apparatus, in which a recording means such as a built-in hard disk drive records a navigation program, and a controlling means such as a CPU reads and executes the navigation program in the recording means to thereby realize the above navigation function.
It is noted that the hardware section of the navigation apparatus differs in specifications according to destination regions. The destination region can be also referred to as a used region, signifying a region, in which the navigation apparatus is shipped to and practically used in. The specifications according to destination regions include, for instance, domestic (Japan) specification, North America specification, and Europe specification. Further, similarly to the hardware section, the navigation program of the navigation apparatus differs in specifications according to the above destination regions or used regions, such as domestic (Japan) specification, North America specification, and Europe specification. The navigation program for the same destination region as that of the hardware section is thus recorded in the recording means for each navigation apparatus at the time of manufacturing.
In this regard, however, the above navigation apparatus has the following disadvantage. That is, there may be a case that a vehicle equipped with the above navigation apparatus is distributed as a used car as being destined for a destination region different from the initially intended destination region. In such a case, it is necessary to prevent the disclosure of personal information or user information, which is related with a user having used until then the vehicle or navigation apparatus. The user information includes, for instance, a registered point such as home, and the history record of the target travel end points. That is, the user information is required to be erased from the recording means of the navigation apparatus before reaching the next user. Such erasure of the user information may be sometimes missed because of lapse of memory of the user till then or the distributor.